2 | As much as we think Saturday Night Live‘s Nasim Pedrad is an underused gem, why is her Kelly Ripa impression still falling way short? And will Kate McKinnon’s absurdist turn as Ann Romney go down in SNL history as the moment when she broke out from anonymous background player to potential star?

3 |Could the fact that Amy Poehler was pretty much the funniest part of both the 2011 and 2012 Emmy telecasts be a signal to the Academy of Television Arts and Sciences that she’s ready to host the whole shebang in 2013 (airing, natch, on NBC)? And in the wake of all the blogoshphere bitterness over Modern Family‘s 2012 Emmy cleanup, who’s ready to start a backlash to the backlash?

4 | Dear L.A. Complex: Why does Will Arnett’s sketch show shoot in New Orleans of all places? That quibble aside, this show is getting renewed, right?!

5 | Are you as proud of Brennan’s pop culture reference to Wile E. Coyote as Bones’ Angela was? It’s no Game of Thrones shout-out — that happened on this week’s New Girl — but it’s a step in the right direction.

6 | Show of hands: Who got goosebumps when the woman with the yellow umbrella appeared at the train station in the final seconds of How I Met Your Mother‘s season premiere? But should the show have bitten the bullet and shown us the mom’s face? That would have been a truly shocking “Wow” moment.

7 | Does it disorient you that Revolution‘s Charlie and Danny are now teenagers, but their parents look like they haven’t aged a day since the blackout 15 years ago?

8 | Why does every pilot have to turn historical figures into crime solvers? Why can’t Thomas Edison just be an inventor?

14 | How much do we love that Sons of Anarchy‘s Tara spotted Gemma’s fingerprints all over Wendy’s impromptu visit? And how priceless was the look on Gemma’s face when Tara floated the idea to her stepmom that, push come to shove, Jax would kill her?

15 | In the wake of widespread outrage over the Voice coaches not selecting the exquisite but clearly over-40 Yolanda Barber during Tuesday’s Blind Auditions, wouldn’t it be great PR for The X Factor to give her an automatic pass to Boot Camp for Season 3 in 2013?

16 | Did we hear a different version of “Without You” than the one Tara Simon sang for the X Factor judges? Because that was terrible, especially compared to The Voice contestant Avery Wilson’s far superior take. And yet Tara got four yeses.

17 |How nifty was Modern Family‘s time-passage trick? (And how awful was Phil’s last stab at facial hair?) Do you suspect Gloria will carry very, very small, driving Claire bonkers? Also, how much prop wrangling went into making sure the giant stuffed animals atop Cam and Mitchell’s car would look as naughty as possible during the kitten-adoption scene?

18 | Is there any single Weird Alien Trick or Wacky E.T. Tic that The Neighbors did not bust out in its very first episode? Were they worried there would be no Week 2? (Are you worried there will be a Week 2?)

19 | Whose idea was it to have Gabriel Mann narrate the Revenge recap special as Nolan? Because we want to say, “Thank you!”

20 | Did Glee‘s Brody only endear you with that Ace of Base confession? (Their music totally holds up!) But does the blind vitriol of Finchel “stans” ever sap the joy out of reading about and/or watching the show?

21 | Doesn’t Jessy Schram look like Scott Speedman’s little sister, not his wife, on Last Resort? Speedman, though…. The hottest thing to happen to a submarine since [insert name in comments]? (Our pick: Denzel Washington in Crimson Tide.) And what’s sexier about Autumn Reeser’s character — her ability to rattle off two minutes’ worth of submarine tech or… you know, that other stuff?

22 | We “get” that Cristina is Meredith’s person on Grey’s Anatomy, but how could Mer leave Derek — without even saying goodbye! — while he was grieving Mark? Speaking of objectionable behavior, anyone else having trouble buying this new sex-crazed Bailey? Mark is hours away from death and she’s humping Ben in every corner of the hospital?

23 | If Scandal‘s Huck looked all fine and dandy, employed and shaven, during the Lindsay Dwyer/Quinn flashback, what the hell later happened that, come Fitz’s White House run, he was homeless and bedraggled? Also: Do you think the Argo movie runs ads during Scandal simply because they share shredded-paper logos?

24 | Is it safe to assume Parks and Recreation‘s Ann has given up her career as a nurse to hang around the Parks department and assist Leslie full time?

25 | How refreshing is it to see a show like CBS’ Elementary not play the will-they-or-won’t-they card?

26 | While understanding that Heidi Klum needs to promote her Babies “R” Us clothing line, wasn’t it a little ridiculous to see a Project Runway designer go home this week for failure to make a chic toddler outfit (while taking care of crying baby doll!)? And did Dmitry’s outfit make his baby look more like a cult member or a garden gnome?

Hit the comments with your answers — and any other questions you care to throw out there!

RE: Grey’s / Meredith made it clear that she literally could not stand by and wait for Mark to die. Given what happened with the crash and its aftermath (which we have yet to see), it makes sense that she could not sit there. Plus, Derek had Callie by his side.

And would some people be having sex while another is dying? Yes. Yes, they would. It’s what a lot of people do when they need to affirm that they are still alive.

Loved how they handled his death with the flashbacks, but wish there had been more scenes of him with Lexie. And even though Skyler is gone, I hope they do some sort of bits to show how her deat was memorialized. (Doesn’t have to be funeral.) It would be impossible to believe that Meredith would do NOTHING.

Meanwhile, this whole Meredith Medusa thing is just so annoying. Why is a doctor charged with training young doctors being firm considered bad? Even Baily, the former “nazi” was never mean or miserable or anything other than demanding, which is what you need to be with kids who are learning to be responsible for human lives.

Maybe everyone else knew that Arizona was alive minus a leg, but I totally thought given Callie’s emotions that Arizona had died, too. This is definitely going to be something to see as the season enfolds (and as for criticism of Shonda for killing characters? Hello. It’s HER shows. She can do what she wants, plus life is full of deaths. Painful ones of those we love, young and old.)

I’m totally amazed that Meredith was let off the plane. I’ve been on planes where people wanted to leave and they were not allowed to do so, even when they got as upset as Meredith. So I think that was poorly written.

Meanwhile, how in the world did Christina not know the team culture of the Mayo CLinic—or the Clinic take her on with her history? I love that, finally, she really meets up with other professionals who she admires enough to join, but who tell her, point blank, that she’s failing and that this is NOT all about outcome. Christina’s “You’re kidding, right?” after the head doc finished explaining the culture to her was priceless Christine. (and it’s getting harder and harder to like her over the years because her single-mindedness often crosses the line to true selfishness. Were it not for her relationship with Meredith, no one could tolerate Christine anymore.

I wish I could share the excitement of this season of Glee but I been reading the news storylines and don´t have any interest in the new episodes.
Without Finchel.. Glee isn´t the same.
The fact that Finn let her go so she can make it in NYC, not so she can go find some other guy. That’s why if anything does happen with Brody, i’ll be even more pissed. So much potential for a good SL..and they come up with THIS.
And if they drag it out too long, like they did in season 2, they will end up pissing off the viewers and they will tune out.
Finn needs to find his dream away from Rachel and Rachel needs to find herself because clearly something is not right with her, Rachel needs to take a long look in the mirror because that girl on my screen last night was definitely not her.

In Parks, Ann left her nurse job last season to run health campaigns at Pawnee. I remember sering at least two plotlines covering her new job.

The station that hosts the Emmys rotates and they choose the host. I believe CBS is next and I suspect they will choose Craig Ferguson. You’ll likely need to wait until it’s NBC’s turn for Amy Poehler to have a shot at it.

I’m so tired of all the Glee shippers who organize themselves and spam every site. That’s why I’m all for them breaking up every couple on Glee. Finchel/Brittana/Klaine they’re all guilty of the same behavior.

Or they could just cancel the show and the rest of us could read the comments in articles like this without having to sift through sh it from a bunch of immature idiots who care waaay too much about the love lives of fictional characters. Note to all Glee shippers: THE CHARACTERS ARE NOT REAL SO CALM THE F DOWN.

22) Yes, yes, yes. I get that Meredith is still grieving Lexie and that seeing Mark die would have sent her into breakdown mode, but to not even be there for Derek at home? He just had to watch his best friend/practically brother die, something that Meredith should get considering she considers Cristina her sister and just lost her own sister. And it’s not like Mark was just a random dude, he and Mer had a friendship too

“You know what they say, you’re not a real New Yorker until you’ve had a makeover.” -Who says that? Elton John. I didn’t even know straight guys were allowed to say the word makeover. I had to throw on a skirt just to type the freaking word.
“That’s one of my most favoritest Sheryl Crow songs.” Jesus Christ Clay Aiken, dial back on the gay a little bit. You just implied that not only do you have a favorite Sheryl Crow song, but you are extensively familiar with her entire catlogue.
“Ace of Base still holds up.” Alright, now you’re just trying to mess with us Richard Simmons.
Nope, there’s nothing gay about Brody at all. No sir. Straight as an arrow if I’ve ever seen one.

Actually, Casey is right; the problem isn’t the comment but the inside joke of “how stereotypically gay Brody seems despite being straight”… every single one of that lines were picked by Ryan Murphy & Co to trigger “that” specific reaction: how “gay” Brody acts… and I’m speaking as a gay man myself; Ryan Murphy enjoy throwing that kind of s**t in his shows, seemingly oblivious at how it may increase homophobia, while enjoying his sheltered, privileged life of rich white tv producer, drinking a martini in his luxury condo in L.A., safely protected of any kind of gay bashing…

Stop trying to make Dean Geyer happen. It’s never going to happen. He’ll never be any more than a also ran no matter how much pimping you try to accomplish on this website. His picture is featured in the Dictionary next to the word irrelevant.

You guys need a reality check. You don’t have anywhere near the influence to make this wooden, talentless failure into anything other than the nothingness he is today. As soon as his short run on Glee is over people will forget he even exists. But by all means, why don’t you idiots try writing another 16 articles about the guy and see if you can drum up any interest for the Terri Shiavo replica.

Way to hate on the guy just for doing his job. The guys just working to make some money but he has all the Finchel shippers attacking him like he walked into the studio one day, held a gun to the writers heads, and made them write him in as someone Rachel likes away from Finn. I don’t understand how people can be such jerks to other real people over fictional characters.

Episode was so boring! I don’t recognize this show this isn’t Glee! This show that i loved so much just isn’t on my screen anymore. My favorite character has always been Rachel, i hated her last night, too much change too quickly! Only good thing about entire show was that Finn is back! Hate Brody and these 3rd parties coming between Finchel is tiresome. I want Both Finn and Rachel living in NY whether they are a couple or not. Won’t be the show i loved until that happens!

1) A friend of mine and I were talking about something similar the other day. My top four episodes of the new series at least are The Girl in the Fireplace, Blink, The Empty Child, and The Doctor Dances, so I was sort of psyched when Moffat took over, However his run has been a let down. For one thing this whole “I speak baby” “I speak horse” thing just makes me roll my eyes. I’m not laying the blame on Matt Smith, he seems like a great actor, he just isn’t getting the quality of material that Eccleston and Tennant got.
2) Because Kelly Ripa doesn’t give a lot to work with. As for McKinnon’s Romney is good, but what would be entertaining is if they could get a character like her Fitzwilliam on the show.
3) Amy would be a great host, maybe even could co-host with her husband. And I won’t be backlashing against the backlash, I’ve been railing against the over abundance of praise for the Office clone Modern Family since its first season. The fact that Nick Offerman and Dany Pudi have not been nominated for their characters is an outrage.
6) I indeed got goosebumps. But they were right to not sure the face. Just seeing them so close like that, knowing that’s the moment they’re going for, is enough. We’ll get there, and provided they do a decent amount of stunt casting (Summer Glau or Eliza Dushku would be AWESOME! Or Felicia Day but her being a redhead could be hard to sell), it will make the moment worth it.
9) I had been wondering who they thought he was
10) NO! David Walton is NOT acceptable in anything but Bent. You saw Perfect Couples right? And most everything else he’s done?
11) The alien kid on the Neighbors made me want to pull an Elvis on my tv. Same with the boy Shania kissed on The New Normal. And the less said about Guys with Kids the better, so while the bar is low even for kid standards, they did ok.
13) Considering they already ignore great stuff like Community and Nick Offerman, yes.
17) I wouldn’t say it was nifty, it really wasn’t all that original. As for carrying small, I really don’t see that as being a big issue. But I must say, I side with Claire. Sophia Vegara is getting annoying. And the prop wrangling was top notch I will admit.
18) Listen, the Neighbors COULD be great. it’s NOT a horrible concept. It suffers in execution. It was just painful. “Poopar” or whatever it is, really? And I already mentioned the alien kid in 11. The human kids weren’t that much better. I really wanted to like the show, but they way it came to be is bad on a level I haven’t seen in long time. If I were forced to choose to watch it, Guys With Kids, or Whitney, I’d actually choose Whitney. At least Whitney is theoretically salvageable.
20) No it did not. I love that supporters of Finchel are being tortured. I just wish we could get more of Cassie ripping into Schwimmer, that was great. I feel all of McKinley is just awkward this season. Since those that graduated left it lost its magic. Granted I know logically it had to happen, but aside from Brittaney, Artie, Tina, and tentatively Marley and Kitty I don’t really care about any of the students left there.
21) I can see the resemblance but I can see why he’d pick her. And no, the hottest thing to happen to a submarine is Autumn Reeser since the dawn of time. But do we have to keep Dichen WhatEverHerLastNameIs around?
24) That does seem to be a safe bet, whatever that public health thing is that Leslie hooked her up with doesn’t seem like it would take a ton of time
25) I give them three seasons before they decide to ignore that fresh air.

Minor point but Gemma is Tara’s mother in law, not stepmom. I’m getting a little tired of the bs between these two. I do believe Jax would choose Tara’s side over Gemma but I don’t think for even a second that he would kill his own mom. Cut her out of his life, maybe, but not kill her. I’m really not loving the writing for these two. It’s too extreme. Gemma working with Wendy? And Tara becoming this delusional, up-tight controlfreak bitch but in private getting stoned & ignoring her crying baby? Way over the top.

18 – Yes it concerns me that Neighbors is gettin a week 2. It really concerns that some people actually liked it??? It was very campy and I commend ABC for trying that route but I don’t think this is the one for them.

Just b/c Elementary writers are SAYING that they won’t do the “will they/won’t they” thing doesn’t mean that they aren’t going to inject as much sexual tension as they can. And, they did! I KNOW that the couple already has shippers, and I doubt that the writers will completely ignore that fanbase forever. I’m guessing we will forever get “Benson/Stabler” type moments, that seem perfectly innocent to most, but are confessions of love to the shippers.

Glee has the most passionate fans on tv-I don’t think one group is any better/worse than any other. By calling one group out all you are doing is gaining “hits”on your comment section-which may be your purpose.

21: I love Jessy Schram, on multiple things, and am happy shes on Last Resort, but i could not agree more. She looks 22 and deff looks like Scotts characters little sister. Hell her with any guy, its hard to see her as a wife. She much more naturally fits the relationship she was in on Falling Skies (was a 22-23 year old girlfriend to a 21-22 year old no where near marriage).

Shonda should just make Mer Cris the real deal and put us all out of our misery, because this is getting ridiculous beyond words. My problem isn’t that she ran away from the hospital, that was understandable, she lost Lexie, she wasn’t prepared to see another death. My problem was that at the end of the day when she couldn’t go to Cristina she chose to spend time drinking with her and Alex instead of going home to Derek and Zola. This didn’t just show her insensitivity towards Derek but more so towards Zola. did she honestly think after pulling Mark off the plug, Derek would be in any shape to take care of their daughter? Seriously? No matter how much I try to wrap my around it I am unable to accept this. if it was only Derek I could have still understood it, but this was not just him, it was about Zola too
Poor baby I feel bad for her, for a moment there I felt like it was a redo of Ellis Grey all over again, like how for Ellis nothing and no one was more important than Richard and how she won’t eve stop to pay her daughter a second look before running to him, same appears to be the case with Meredith, she didn’t stop for a second look at Zola, hell Zola didn’t even come to her mind, all day she could find time to go on skype talking with Cristina but not once id she think about Zola, she just packed her bag and ran off to her “person” ad when that didn’t work she went off booze hunting with her friends, while her grieving husband took care o their daughter. Wow!

Wow, you sure have assumed a lot about the thought process of a fictional character. You have no idea how long she left Derek with Zola or if she thought about her at all during the day. She’s obviously dealing with a number of traumas herself, and perhaps having a drink or 2 after attempting to get on a plane was what she needed. Doesn’t imply that she’s abandoned her baby, who was happily at home with her father. It was a pretty lack luster episode as it was, but I think there was still an accurate depiction of how differently death can affect people. It’s not always rational or cut and dry.

I wouldn’t consider myself a shipper on Glee anymore, but I know the show I love is gone when all I want to see is a further story of Kurt and SJP working at Vogue…and I’m not even a Kurt fan.

I don’t like this splitting up the show. They should have made a decision to follow the Glee kids into college or the army or whatever, or stayed in the classroom.

I do admit that I missed Finn. Rewatch the pilot..he and Shue were the heart of the show in the beginning, regardless of shipping, and they’ve gotten away from it. Sure, Rachel was the star, but the parallels with the two guys were what it was about.

I agree. I think that the pilot had so much effortless heart, and now the show is just filled with these after school specials, couples driven storylines, ZERO consistency, too many characters, etc. I don’t like it.

20 – So, that’s Rachel’s new guy. Uhmm, OK. Let Rachel and Brody do their thing in NYC. Brochel FTW indeed. Good luck Lea with that block of wood with the hot body and nice abs and mediocre voice that the writers have paired you up as your next love interest. Get Loser Finn to Lima ASAP. Duhh, where else can he go. It seems the army doesn’t want him either. Let him start again from the pits of despair. At least, we’ll get to watch Cory Monteith do some good acting.

HIMYM: I got goosebumps when Klaus’ voice over ended and he says “Everyone finds someone someday, you just never know when or where.” Then Future Ted says, “And he was right, unfortunately the when of it was still a little ways down the road. But the where of it…” And then the lightning flashed on the Farhampton sign, that part right there brought chills down my spine. And I could feel my heart pounding so fast when they panned up on the mother, but still kept her face hidden by the umbrella. It was like the most perfect teasing shot. I kinda wish they did show her face (it wouldn’t have ruined anything, Ted didn’t see her, we did) but like someone else said above about how they probably didn’t cast the mother yet and it wouldn’t be right to use a double, but in my opinion, the scene was perfect the way it was. Classic HIMYM teasing for sure :D

3. I never saw Parks & Rec, but she would be a good choice.
There’s also definitely too much hate for MF online. It deserved every one of those awards.
7. Definitely
11. Although I like The New Normal’s Bebe Wood, Maggie Elizabeth Jones is probably the most gifted cute-kid on television
17. OF COURSE Gloria is gonna drive Claire bonkers!
19. He did very well
21. They don’t look that much alike except for the hair.

TVLine: Serious question. There’s no doubt many Finchel stans make comments that range from being juvenile to repetitive to nasty. And there are also who make passionate, heartfelt statements, often giving reasons for where they’re coming from. Here’s the thing: every group of Glee stans does this. Why are you targeting Finchel fans for hate and ridicule? Why didn’t you ever, once, last year, or this summer in articles about Glee, ask this question about those from multiple fan groups who spent all of last year mounting the “Rachel Say No” campaign in comments that ranged from being juvenile to repetitive to not just nasty but beyond vicious in attacking the ship, the characters — especially Finn — , the writers, and even Cory Monteith, with people calling Finn and Cory horrible names and insulting the appearance and intelligence and personality of both the character and the actor and the writers who were writing the story? And why did TVLine never ask this question about the numerous groups of stans who attacking Finchel & the writers last year with the accusation that they were stealing time and PDA opportunities from their preferred ships? This reads like an incredibly unprofessional bias on your part.

How about reframing the question this way: Does the vitriol–or, to phrase it in a less negative light, the fantatical passion–of SOME GLEE FANS IN GENERAL interfere with your joy in reading about/watching the show? A fair answer is probably yes. Targeting one group, and ignoring the equal or worse hatred expressed by all the other groups, is both unfair and appears to reveal that rather than actually raising a question, whoever wrote it is using their position as a “Team TVLine” writer to express an opinion about their preferences on the show and their contempt of a group of viewers — and consumers of your website.

To answer your other question: No, it didn’t endear Brody to me. I think the Brody storyline is important for Rachel’s story. She needs to stop seeing herself as someone that people “settle for,” which is how she saw herself in the first three years. She believed that people only put up with her on sufferance and that they only liked her because she wore them down – something she stated in 4×03, and something she implied when talking to Finn in the Season 3 finale when she asked him “When did you become the person I was settling for” — in other words, she believed he was only with her because he gave in to her pursuit, not because he truly loves her for who she is.

One of the main purposes of the Brody story is for Rachel to come to see herself as being someone who is attractive to others, including to the guy every girl in school wants to date (just like Finn was that guy in high school). If she can believe she’s really attractive to others, then she can believe Finn is genuinely attracted to her for who she is, not because he’s settling for her or because he got tired of running away from her chasing after him. So the story matters; it’s important, and I am glad the writers are writing this story.

I can’t get on board with it as it’s being presented, though, because the actor playing the role is not a strong actor, and looks even weaker in comparison for being put in scenes opposite the formidable acting talent of Lea Michele. The story should crackle and sizzle; instead, I’m finding it consistenly falls flat due to poor acting, which is dragging the entire story down. Put an actor of the calibre of Jon Groff or Cory Monteith in there — someone who can match Lea MIchele’s acting ability, not someone who forces her to try to carry the entire load of every scene herself.

Because the actor is dragging down the quality of the scenes, I’d prefer for them to draw this part of the story to a close quickly; let Rachel find her confidence and then let him disappear — not because the purpose he’s served on the show isn’t important, but because in this pivotal season, Glee can’t afford to carry the dead-weight of less than stellar acting, particularly not in part of the story that’s supposed to help sell the entire New York half of the show. The story as written — Ace of Base references and all — isn’t enough if there isn’t strong acting to bring the story to life.

But does the blind vitriol of Finchel “stans” ever sap the joy out of reading about and/or watching the show?

I think this can be said about ANY “stans” of any TV show that gets discussed on this site (see also any article that has mention of “Gossip Girl” in it). To all those complaining here: Nobody is saying fans of a couple aren’t entitled to their opinions. Of course you are. And if you like or dislike a certain pairing, cool, share all you want why you feel that way. I’m like that with my favorite shows, too, and discussing this stuff can be fun.
But that’s the thing-often these discussions on this site aren’t fun. They’re rude and nasty. It’s really, REALLY annoying when people come here looking to read about and discuss a TV show they like, only to have to wade through three or four pages of people hurling insults at each other because, oh, my god, someone likes this couple more than another, or people getting so bent out of shape over what a character is doing to the point where I think they forget it is a TV show and the characters are not real people. And if “Glee” or “Gossip Girl” are mentioned in the same article as other shows entirely, those who care about the other shows have to try and skim through stupid arguments just to see if there were any comments about those shows and not about someone’s shipping preference. It’s absolutely ridiculous.
Everyone can have their own opinions and share them, absolutely, but for god’s sakes, the insults and rude comments really, desperately need to stop. I can assure you that nobody wants to read that.

I see many people complaining that they showed the mother, but her face was hidden by the yellow umbrella. Let me ask you this: Did you really think they were gonna reveal who the mother is in the fast episode of the season. Season 8 maybe the last season, if they talks to extended the show for another seasons don’t go through. Critics have been saying that by revealing that Barney and Robin get married, the only thing that will make most of the viewers watch the show regularly is to find out who the mother is. If they had revealed who the mother was in the first episode of the season, there would be nothing to look forward to for the rest of the shows run.